Review of They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) by Shpostal — 02 Feb 2019

That a good documentary exists at all of the terrors of WWI is vitally important. But this documentary by Peter Jackson is a triumph of modern technology that brings the old silent black and white films shot by British cameramen in Belgium and France somewhere in the midst of a war that never should have happened.

Historians and history fans like me are familiar with the story of a war of monarchies and incredible loss of life as a result of primarily British Army generals like the worthless Douglas Haig and the criminality and incompetence of a young Winston Churchill, who orchestrated a naval attack in the Dardanelles that was so poorly planned and executed that 50000 British army and navy personnel were mercilessly slaughtered by Ottoman troops who had them pinned down on a thin strip of beach they simply could not escape.

Gallipoli should have ended with Churchill's immediate removal from the Navy and face charges of criminal neglect for his idiocy and refusal up to his death to admit he did anything wrong. But "They Shall Not Grow Old" doesn't focus on one particular battle, but rather a shocking and deeply moving day by day film and narrative description of what fighting in this war was like prior to Americans becoming involved that would finally force Germany to surrender lest that country be totally annihilated by a much superior force.

And it's brutal, like real war is. No John Wayne heroics here. No cliched company of about six soldiers of various ethnicities spewing the usual Hollywood cliche **** or somebody getting a nick on the top of the arm.

There was great care taken to add color to the old film which made the whole sickening affair that much more realistic. The early portion of the film is in black and white at training camps in England prior to departure for France and Belgium, where the color begins.

Also, the ability to accurately read the lips of the soldiers and officers and brilliantly synch them into voice overs is jaw dropping. But lest we get ahead of ourselves, it's all about the war as it really happened.

We are spared some of the most gruesome instances of the Brits attacking German machine guns in the No Man's Land and direct artillery hits because the film makers of the time were not allowed to take part in the actual charges, but to remain in the trenches and film as troops went up, over, and descended straight into Hell.

The rats, magpies, lice, the incredible filth and total lack of sanitation on the front lines is well explained and the sight of mutilated dead soldiers is sobering to say the least. Trench foot victims are filmed, and those poor men were often killed by gangrene and infections, and survivors routinely suffering amputations of legs to stop the infection.

WWI was truly the most totally miserable war in modern times, the eventual surrender of Germany followed by a vicious Versailles Treaty that would punish as usual the German public more than anybody by reducing them to near starvation and war restitution that only this decade was finally paid off! One fanatical WWI vet, Adolph Hitler would use this humiliation to exact revenge on his own 21 years later.

Hollywood needs to make more real documentaries, accurate and moving. Our willful ignorance of the sacrifices of those who fought, were injured and killed in war to save their nations will have dire consequences.

Those who think war is "cool" and something akin to a football game and heroic cliches need to see this film.